Process for separating ore materials from each other.



R! S. TQWNE & F. B FLINN. P C F'QR. SEPARATJING; ORE mmams mom E ACHOTHER.

APF-LKC Q LED 5% I {9 3- RENEWED NOV. 2

Patented Feb: 25, F619;

SHEET 1- 3 SHEETS- B. S. TOWNE & F. B. HUME. PROCESS'FOR SEPARAHNG OREMATERIALS FROM EACH OTHER. umcumn HLiQ m1. 5, 19:3. mamas nov, 29. 19121. LQ Q'E SA'TG iglteglted Feb. 25, 1919.

' 3SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ill

R. TOWNE & F. B. FLINN.

PROCESS Hm SGHRUING "ORE MATERIALS FROM EACH OTHER. APPLICATION "min HR.5-, '1-913. RENEWED NOV. 20. 1912.

1,Q95,817. Patented Feb, 25, 1919.

3 SHEKTSSHEET 3.

verz'xe'ci 071 Baal Baingfidciec away/wa citizen of the sldmg m thecity,

@FEQE EQ'EBEBE E3. ESQWHE, OF NEW 23355, N. 511, AND FEEIQERICK B;FLINN, 0F OBAliGE, NEW $115.33"??? @BSSIGNGRS Ti) BUBBLE-8635173513?(SQREQR-AEIBN, fl CURPQB-T8N 61" NEW 90mg mi, smmmwmm mam EACH 2 10 all207mm 52 may momem:

Be it known that ROBERT TOWNE, a United SiMQQ, farm-9P1 county, andState of New York, and FREDERICK. Fmrm, citizen of the- United Suites,residing in 01712: county of Essa State 0f I? ew Je sey, .invemed new.1m! 1 511 we .Pru'iessaes for 4? Each Other, whih film; 1g; isspecificatien, reference being chensin t0 the acs-mmpanyiug drawings,

This invemwn rehztes "mkmwm emens I the max maieR iaA o1 earthy material015, was the memiiir; which they summing 'zhc'c pounds of d??- memisW575i). other substances.

mining: the ob mt, necessary even briefly, Qpeu eah and all of theseolder 'inethqds, it being sufficient to refer to thaw of the sub-s sWherewith 1119 purpose has been available the buoyancy of one 2&5 of m21 07: bodies in relation to Q1056 of M101 set, these being generaflytermed. fiob -tj mathads. 'And fiimse are here mentions not because.lzhe present mmhod.

'have' s levised or the apparatus which We have cieslgneu torczzz'rylzlg it out Quiz 33a fully described as a flohxtion prmf'e 0!":1fioiation mechanism, but they are z'efwn- 1 0 in order that the z'ezzdmznmy have approximate in character with w. pix-sent process andmechanism may: be 30311 purbd and (mnh'zzsfmi far a f an-de standing.

Thes fiotaizrm processes 0 n'guii xls {0r 1pm the fact'timtnm 1s-, andmef: i campoun'ds, possess the hysic a5 attriuut'ix closely c nmct-ingand cahering 'wiiffi 6'1 ENE herihg; to, oils 01* olezzgfinmzs 1Eprefrencain contacting a? coke. waer, mud in the presence sf theywijiifselect the 011 rat 2& than 1 Spesiicatim of Letters Patent.

11m filed February 5, 191" Serial Kim 7%,3fi9. Eeaewed iiovemha: 20,1818.

earthy masses GI i'bck 1115 from mm) ham exzzieci iezial E0. 233,445.

' and upcni'he further fact that theoil bodies have a, z'eater tendencyto udhem to 01' sohere Witn the metallic or metaliifezmm bodies thanwith the non-mctaflifereus, su ch as the bodies in the ore. 'Gre racks0r earths are redixced to finen I and are then, in (me "way 01' zmuthm",commizxgied with water andoii, or oleaginous maiei'iai, and the k cr, asafmrusaid, uniting b preference with the metalliu or n'zeczllliferonsbodies, are made zelaiivezly mare buoy mi than 111 #31911 natural state.0

Under the aciion of this relative. buoyancy thew tencieacy as to some $0the smriace t 1 1nd, such as water. The J K.

me body of the Z "heory of the earlier processes or methods nu; beenthat when the 501k? pariicies reach 1.19 51;. face 3f the suspendingHquifl, it wmzld 2'13 effect :1 sgpa: io n not eniy a L0 znetm,;e2'-0usparticles from the water Zmaxis-1; 112 1 1 Hon 20m the non-m And in the(2:! 2* we are acquninied, the

011d maswes from the surface m ,has 21mm abut 4 feet separa- W b\'fofimving iion. and I experiment-2mg in 1th all of thesgprocesses whichI have Emma i0 @111 knmvledge, have lea. 0m abs'ezvibg'numcmus chmac-teisric ncmena; and the iiscovery oweml k121iiez's which m:- bslieu- :0 benew in this art, :mdwhich we 12mm made amiiabl in: efl "01y .iahd0001102;

i meiaiz' um; mm i513 sepazmien or y 41m In order is:

se phmmmeam and he n'nfitez's wk.

, my :10: gvssxst m lid and 2.

meson duruble in nature will be formed. And the adjustments andconditions of the par of such a device as shown in Fig. 8 are corroot,the entire mess of liquid (naturul water) within the chamber can beturned into a bubbling body, as is illustrated in that figure. Thesebubbles of natural. water, however, are fragile and vanish instantly onreaching; the surface of the water body unless Til eppuratus embodyingmechei sin available Ulli PTO- elevation; iii B an enlarged detailemotional. view of a part of the apparatus shown in l.

big. t. is :1 central vertical section of a modified form of ziplnmltus;

l lig. u.- a side elevation of the apparatus the water be charged withforeign material. shown i. Fig. i; The level of the liquid in thechamber, of c it" a plan View of the apparatus course, rises to someextent during the a. lion shown in l 'igs. -51; and 5; p of the air tocompensate for the increase in Figs, i, 8 and 9, are vertical,sectional. cubical content, because of the masses of air views oil :2dialan'unatio form to illustrate which are passing in bubble formthrough m5 phe or one, an. uiuilcrslanding of which all a i inappreciating the char actcristic n13 tiers that are incident to ourmethod and mechanism.

the liquid.

vIt-now, into this vessel we introduce a properly regulated mass ofpulverized ore, containing, for example, particles of copper .l l3*lfJilES liqui l-tighttunic, rat or suitsulfid, either introducinp it asa dry powder able reocntucle. As shown in the dltUNUl,L. and allowing itto gun ually settle through it is cylindrical and su ie diameterundheight. Fie eral forms llll hown in the drawings,

Regurdin" the devices shown cmiventionully or die lltl'lllliltitiililYin Figs. 7, 8 and "l the tank or receguaclc has an air chamber 2 at thebottom, rulapted to communicate with source of supply of compressed air,as by means of the pipe 5'? connected to the wall of the chamber. Thepartition wall or separator lgie'tween this air chamber and the chamber.4, above it, in the body of the hulk, made-of material which permeableto air under pressure, such as a thick layer of cloth of line mesh, orseveral such cloth layers closely superposed, or u perforated me llicplate, or a, series of such plates, or a section or superposed sectionsof-fine screen mesh, or some artificially made porous body, such aseiu'thenwure, emery, corundiuu, or, the like. It is merely necessurythat it should-cause the body of air to be broken up into a, largenumber of minute'strruuns or jets which travel throw" it and which fornish at upper 1r numerous closely the body of the liquid, or introducingit while oommingled with another body of water so as to form a fluidpulp, there will occur within a few seconds or within a minute or twoafter the introduction, one of the phenomena which we avail ourselves ofin carrying out our process. After the com pressed air has been passedthrough the bottom septum and into the ore-charged water for a shortperiod of time it will be observed mass below its upper level) becomesmuch more tenacious and when they reuch the surface adhere together, orcoalesce to form larger and larger bubbles. The tenacity of these. issuch that after they reach the surfuceof the liquid mass, proper, theymaintain their form for a relatively long period of time. These bubblesare strongly colored by the adherin film of the solid pulp materialcontain in the water, passing from one stage'of darkness in color toanother, according to the amount of crushed ore that is introduced inthe water, sometimes even approaching a black olive, or a. colorequivaand Ill 'llillll) u mt "l bubbles. We have lently dark. found atfor tln n u e use cabe. uncle But our observations have led us to conof()l'l duui elude that these masses of solid materials munufocturodforthat are'carried upward by the bubbles P0503. through a shallowrbody ofwater (when i1 is s, "1 shown in, water alone is used with the ore) showbut l 9, a lmdy of distilled water is iced in theclunnber l inreceptacle 1, n. air be admitted under pressure to the bottom chamber 2,a mass of air glt'll llleS will be seen to rise through the water assoon as they reach the surface but they will he found to be evanescentand without duru bility, but no true bubbles are formed, as

little sephrntion of the metnlliferous or valuable parts fromthenon-metallic, earthy, or crushed rock parts.

Passing now to the matters of process and ofmechunism which characterizeour invention, and turning to Fig. 1 is presenting an illustrationthereof, the consist, first, in supplying to themes 0 water in the vat 1generellrunderstood. I, not only a mass of crushed ore but also in u""d. oil: dist? we I iu'ttui ul a quantum of oily matter. The latter may1,; reduced, 1H almost bolt be of any ot the numerous sorts which have sof a. time distiue; character mid more the characteristic quality abovedescribed,

that the bubbles (initially forming the water r (.ilVii'le iho lilll)plane l' Ylil" in t ihe plane w ie're inelicnleal for The teinleney 15the um ing in oppc in: rlions of theee 7 two eh of partieleew cause theupper inch e-ciirrying. pars of the bubble column to he removed from thelatter in any of the several ways. By preliuenee we 6 eat this byierminnting ihe retainingwalls of the column at this trnnfeversehorizontal plane, permitting those bubbles which Jere charged and cooledwith the niemlhfereas more in detail, the mechanism illustrated in thedrawin s: 7 is a feed tank preferably situated irectly above theseparator tanli l. 8 is a vertical pipe or duct exlending down from thefeed tank to n proper point in the separator tank. 2% She lower end ofthis duct there sheet". n'niing or sprayHliorining device pref eriihlythe form of n conical valve inwing a W F euch shape as to cause theonunn of fluid to flow outward in n slice-1h or in a series o i lli shedeseeinling liquid and it ll he properly (lislributed to inveer! the"bubbles suitable adjusting (1cl, for ieg'nlimng former an esenpe ductfor-11m ganglia part. of the ore nller it has been. 'lrorn themetullif'eroiis particles. oi '1. leads toe valve box at 15, l: i. einggpreferably bebween this box and the, hinlit 1 control valve iii. 14. Inthe valve box 15 thereis a valve 13 combined with devicne whichautomatically control the dis- Y These devices consist of a float i i ina supplemental tank 19, a coin ll 17, and a lever 18, flexibly-eon stemof the Wlie 13; ll in communicnlion with the wink l by means; of: a.duel; 20. rii'ialital tank ill not only consti- U10 1 for the floatvalve hut- :ilso a device by ml.,l'i the normal level lo lion over l'lleupper edges of the They are collected after es irnping Ml by m reel '10with the of 'lhe liquid in llw mini: am he uscertnim'ill :it any nnerThe liqc In this ionic ill-i n t nmloriully ulleoied by the nei'nlinggril ihe liquid in the lunl; l nnz'l t'hereloie The level which itindicates in n 'vproxinmtoly llllll] lo which the liquid in t1he tank 1would normally selile if the nil were (hit oil.

21. imlicules a eolleeting device for receivingz lhe overflow from thebubble column. As shown, it is annular in confornnitiou with a slopingbottom at 222. This causes the innl'criul collectedv in it. to movedownward to the place of discharge at 23. From the lisclinrge point itcan l ekrerrie l to any eiiit ahlo recept-u-le for subsequentl'XUlLl-ll'lLlllln.

\ The food (unit can he initially sup jiliell with material in {mypreferrml. way. I (is have shown a si'orngc tank at Bel In WlllCll.

the pulp can be plneeah thin consisting of mmwith a properly regulatedquantity of pulverized ore mixed therewith. The oil, when us'ed, can heintroduced into the pulp either by or the oil and ore eon hepreliminarily in a mixing apparatus, with sufiicient quantity of waterif found nciizessary. The flow of pulp to the feed tank eiin hemitonmtiunlly controlled by means of the valve at and the flout: at 26;connected to the valve by a vibrating lever 27.

Willi n mecliziniem of the sort the fecxling of the material to lhoseparator hinli and the \\',itli,(lrznval of lln-iw'nsl-e therefron'nrun he so regulated that the process shull he continuous.

The plane of separation oi the upper pnrlx of the bubble colunm from thelower part can be best or preferably van-ind by vary-- ing the height ofthe pulp column. This can be accom ply (if the pu p angue from thebottom; such regulating )eing effected by properly adjustxin (he llonjnilvec-i or other control. devices. Another way for varying the plunooft sxapnrntiou of the upper eolun'm from the low port is illus mmin'liig, 4 where Hie {Y0 n; ill l how; on lol ly 'niouniml ail-Moll t wit; of the main tank I .nm'l when it in nu lowered, lhe plane oi. eswpefor the li uhhlee flowing ill into this stcrage' tank; brought togetherIll lished by regulating the eupand the withdnuvingol' the part oftalio' hu ll;

that there can be changes; made in a number p of the parts wiiliout donirtin'g from the ini'eniion. The main ton 1'' here is: iixhnnleillaterally and 1S relatively'sliortor vertienlly ll: is the case in 1 and2, but the air lzlinmber at 55, the bottom seplun". :1 the ill inlwm iiill, 13 he ooni-rollir in, El Mill 18", {U ranliz sminlim l-hose alioi'e(leecriheil. The loud hmiii 7 is soinew if numller limp. tank shown in1, {mil the and 2 and is fitted" around the tank 1'-.

former a with its adjusting rod 10, and the surrounding tube 8', beinsubstantially likethoselaboue set forth. e collector at 21" hasits innerwan 21 extended vertically somewhat more than is the case in Figs. 1

invention to meet varying circumstances.-

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. An ore-concentration process, which comprises the operations-ofcharging a vessel with a flowing pulpleonsisting of crushed ore, waterand a rot producing and mineral-s'electin agent, ntroducing a gasthrougha e-texture rous medium into said ore pulp and forming bubbles towhich certain'mineral particles, of the'ore adhere as said bubbles risethrou hthe pulp, causin said mineral-bearing ubbles to form a co umnoffibubbles above the pulp, and separating the miner lcarried b thebubbles my the upper art 0 "the bubb e column from the remain er ofthe'ore. v

- 2. An ore-ooncentratio process, which comprises the operations :6charging a ves-- lplconsisting oficrushed' ore, water and a ct-producing and min- ,sel continuously with a flowing pulfp 1 theremainder of the ore, and maintaining theliquid level of-the pulpsubstantially constant during the separating'opera-tion.

3. An ore-concentration process, which comprises the operations ofcharging a ves ing of crushed ore, water, and a oth-producing andmineral-selecting agent, introconsistducing a gas through a fine-textureporous .medium intosaid ore pulp and forming'bub les to which certainmineral partic es of 'the ore adhere as said bubbles rise throu h thepulp, causing said mineral-bearing bu bub Ice in the upper part of thebubble column from the remainder of the ore, and continuously andseparately carrying ed the separated mineral and the ore remainder.

4. ore concentration process which comprises the operations of charginga ves- 'sel with'a flowing pulp consisting-of crushed ore and; water,introducing a gas through a fine-texture porous medium into said ore plp in the presence of a froth-producing and mineral-selective agent,thereby forming bubbles to which certain mineral particles of theoreadhere as said bubbles r1se throu 'h the pulp, causing saidmineral-bearing bu bles to form a column of bubbles above the pulp, andseparating the mineral carried by eral-selectingagent, mtroducin a gasthe bubbles 1n the upper art of the bubblethrough afine-texture rous mium into said ore pulp and forming bubbles to which certain mineralparticles of .the ore adhere as'said bubbles rise through the pulp,causing said mineral-bearing ,ubbles to form a column of bubbles abovethe pulp, se arating the mineral carried b t e bubb es in. the upperpart of the bub'le column from column from the remain er of the ore.

In testimony whereof we affix our signa-

